My beautiful niece Gracie was recently diagnosed with Neuroblastoma (cancer). It is still early in the diagnosis and we are awaiting results to know more about the fight that Gracie will face. I've created this blog as an outlet for friends and family to stay informed about her journey and a way for friends and family to make anonymous contributions towards her care and the mounting expenses her family will face. Gracie is a fighter and the bravest 3 year old I know. Hundreds of people love you Gracie and are praying for you. "Be strong and of good courage for the Lord thy God is with thee" Joshua 1:9

Friday, April 30, 2010

We went for a checkup after round two and they told us they wanted us in Fort Worth the next day to start the stem cell harvest. We flew in my sister in law the next day and Gracie and I drove the 5 hours to Ft. Worth. We stayed in the Ronald McDonald house and checked her counts at the clinic the next morning. The next day they took her in for surgery to place a catheter on the side of her neck for the stem cell harvest and they also placed a feeding tube down her nose while she was under since she was not eating well and down to 25 lbs. The plan was to stay our nights at the ronald mcdonald house and check her counts at the clinic each day but she developed a fever after the surgery and they kept her at the hospital. She had a lot of nausea and actually puked up the feeding tube. it was pretty traumatic for her. They placed another tube the next day and she held so still and did awesome. There were 3 nurses in there and all of them stated that they had never seen anyone do so good with it. I was so proud of her. She started the stem cell harvest a couple days later and it went for 4 hours at a time for 2 days. she did really well with that too. But she puked up the second feeding tube as well. After that they thought of putting in a tube through her tummy straight to her stomach but couldnt do it for a couple days so we decided to come back home and do it here at some point since her appetite had improved greatly. she has been eating non stop for the last week and gained a few pounds back. When the doctor took out the huge catheter he said she did better than he had ever seen. i said "im starting to think you guys must say that to everyone!. haha" but he said no she really was the best and even better than most adults. She is such a strong brave girl. Monday we took her in for round three here in Tulsa and she was there 4 days. We just got home last night. We are so thankfyul that the last couple rounds have gone so much better than the first. We know it is because of all the thousands of prayers being offered in her behalf, and we feel the blessings of these prayers individually and as a family. We are so blessed despite this awful situation, or "stupid cancer" as Gracie calls it. :)

Thursday, April 8, 2010

We want to express our heartfelt thanks to all who have prayed and donated money to Gracie's care. WOW! we feel so blessed to have such wonderful friends and family, There are so many other people we don"t even know who have prayed and donated and we thank you so much for helping a stranger. The world is filled with angels blessing the lives of others. I dont know who has donated since it is anonymous through the account my sister set up but we want to thank you from the bottom of our hearts!! Gracie is an angel who blesses our lives every day just by being in it. We hope you are blessed as well. God is hearing all the thousands of prayers and we thank you and ask you to continue to pray for our family and especially Gracie. <3

Gracie did awesome being at home for 5 days! It was wonderful beyond words. She was SO happy the whole time and eating well and playing a lot. It did our hearts good to see so many smiles after a very hard month.

It was great to have her homw with the family to enjoy Easter. She had a ton of fun hunting for easter eggs and filled her basket to the top!

Gracie went back for round 2 of chemo on Monday and it was a 3 day dose. She did so well with hardly any sickness. She was laughing and being silly in the hospital from time to time. She did so well, we were able to come home today on the 4th day!! She is happy to be home again. We will go in twice a week to test her blood counts and they will give her blood or platelets when needed.

Friday, April 2, 2010

Gracie kept eating "good" and keeping it down, so they let her come home on Wednesday for the weekend. She will start the next round of chemo on Monday. She was so excited to come home. ever since she got home she has been playing and talk talk talking! it is so wonderful to see her so happy!!

on the way home daddy was being silly to get a smile. then later on I looked over at her and saw her smiling. I said "is daddy being silly again?" and she said "No. I"m smiling cause I"m excited to go home!" It melted my heart. She was at the hospital 28 days.

So happy to be home!!!!

Yesterday we made cupcakes and today we colored easter eggs. We are so happy she is home for easter and that we can spend the weekend as a family. Please keep praying that the next round of chemo will be easier on her. hopefully now it will be since we seem to have the right combination of medicines for nausea etc. :) :) :) thanks!!!!!

Alex's Lemonade Stand

Gracie's family is raising $ for childhood cancer research through Alex's Lemonade Stand. Help Gracie's Team reach their fundraising goal. Alex's Lemonade Stand, fighting childhood cancer one cup at a time.